Rick And Morty Season 3 Will Premiere Way Sooner Than Expected

Wubalubadubdub! We all knew that Rick and Morty would return; the show came out swinging during its freshman season, and only continued to solidify its status as a modern classic during its second. Although we have known for sometime that Rick and Morty would receive a third season, it turns out that Dan Harmon and Justin Roiland's masterpiece will return to Cartoon Network's Adult Swim much sooner than expected, as in before the end of 2016. Take a moment to contain your excitement before proceeding.

During a recent panel for Rick and Morty, series co-creator Dan Harmon revealed that more episodes of Rick and Morty would come to Cartoon Network later this year:

I think Season 3 is---we're targeting around the end of this year... You guys do realize we're at the beginning of this year?

Leave it to the man who created genius misanthrope Rick Sanchez to temper our enthusiasm by reminding us that 2016 has only just begun. So as of now it looks as though we have less than a full calendar year before Rick and Morty will return for a follow-up to its second season. This revelation will undoubtedly come as great news to anyone who has watched the show; in just two short seasons, Rick and Morty has become renowned as one of the smartest, yet darkly humorous shows currently on the air. It began as a mere parody of the dynamic between Doc Brown and Marty McFly from the Back to the Future franchise, but has since taken on a life of its own as a genius send-up of any and all sci-fi tropes.

Of course, that's not the only good news to come out of this panel. Dan Harmon also revealed that the third season of Rick and Morty would run four episodes longer than the previous two -- bringing the total episode count to fourteen instead of ten.

The announcement also comes as somewhat of a surprise to most of us. During the climactic cliffhanger finale of Rick and Morty's second season, which aired in October 2015, brand new (or is he?) character Mr. Poopybutthole appeared to tell us that the series would not return until about a year and a half after the finale. Check out the clip below to see for yourself:

That being said, Mr. Poopybutthole seems to have developed something of a substance abuse problem since Beth Smith shot in him the stomach during Rick and Morty's second season. He might not be the most lucid person for us to get our information from.

Now that we are reaching the end of the year, it seems as if this 2016 news is less and less likely to come true. However, in September various workers on the set of Rick and Morty confirmed that at least a couple of episodes are finished already. Now, we just need to wait for an official announcement to be made! Fingers crossed it comes sooner rather than later.

We will keep you up to date on all of the latest and greatest Rick and Morty information as it becomes available. I think I speak for everyone when I say this: even with the third season's bumped-up timetable, the show still cannot return to Adult Swim fast enough. Stay tuned for more details!

Rick and Morty is popular enough to have its own awesome t-shirts. But then fans went and bought all of them, so they're sold out right now, but you can see the sweet designs next...